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2003 Barcelona Test 1
David Coulthard }} The first Barcelona test of 2003 was the first large scale test of the new year with seven out of the ten teams marking their attendance at the test session. The only teams not present at the test were , and . , and all ran their 2003 challengers at the test. Driver Running Order Overview Day 1 The first day of the test commenced with only and in attendance. Sauber would be the first team to run their 2003 challenger in a test session with Nick Heidfeld running the new C22 chassis whilst teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen would run the old C21 chassis. The team focussed on ensuring reliability and consistency of telemetry in their new car upon the car's installation day. would continue to run the old FW24 chassis. The team ran three drivers, the two race drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya as well as the team's test and reserve driver Marc Gené. Schumacher, however would only complete five laps before retiring from the session due to a back injury that he had sustained which would render him unavailable for the rest of the test session. Day 2 For the second day of the Barcelona test, it was announced that the Michelin Formula One test driver, Olivier Beretta would replace Ralf Schumacher in his test duties for the Williams team. Beretta worked alongside teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gené in developing the new Williams chassis. Beretta focussing primarily on tyre development and aerodynamics due to his familiarity with the Michelin tyres. and were joined by and , both of whom commenced their testing duties for the new season. McLaren were immediately quick with David Coulthard setting the fastest time of the day with test driver Alexander Wurz close behind. would join Sauber in using their 2003 challenger, Olivier Panis driving the new TF103 chassis with teammate Cristiano da Matta driving the old TF102 chassis. The Sauber team completed their second day of testing with the new car. Nick Heidfeld had completed two days of running in the C22 without fault, finishing his work in the new car before handing over testing duties of the C22 to Heinz-Harald Frentzen who up until that point had been driving the old chassis. Day 3 On the third day of the test, continued to lap as the fastest cars around on the circuit, this time running three cars with Kimi Räikkönen joining David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz in the test. The team were the second fastest team of the day with Heinz-Harald Frentzen getting an opportunity to drive the new C22 chassis for the first time. Teammate Nick Heidfeld competed in the old chassis, the last time the C21 chassis would be used before its retirement. The third day would conclude the Sauber team's testing programme in Barcelona. were the next quickest team, Olivier Panis continued to lap in the TF103 chassis whilst teammate Cristiano da Matta drove around in the old TF1O2 chassis. were the next fastest with Juan Pablo Montoya, Marc Gené and Olivier Beretta focussing on aerodynamic work. The third day also saw the arrival of the , and teams. BAR would also run their new 005 chassis for the first time, one day after the car's launch on the previous day. Jenson Button completed the car's first runs without issue on its first day. were due to run both its race drivers Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli, yet due to illness Trulli was forced to pull out of his duties. Instead he was replaced by the team's newly signed test and reserve driver Allan McNish. were the final team to run on the day with Mark Webber finishing the day at the bottom of the timesheets. Day 4 For the third day running, led the timesheets with David Coulthard and Kimi Räikkönen focussing on tyre development. Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gené were not far behind the McLaren's in their cars. The fourth day saw the return of Jarno Trulli who was unable to participate on the previous day due to illness, both himself and Fernando Alonso continued development for 's new car in hybrid chassis. Olivier Panis completed his third day of running in 's TF103, teammate Cristiano da Matta continued to develop the car via its predecessor, the TF102. also continued to run its new chassis for the second day running, with test driver Anthony Davidson taking over duties from race driver Jenson Button for the fourth day of the test. also continued to run a single car with Antônio Pizzonia taking over from teammate Mark Webber for the fourth day of the test. The fourth day of the test saw and conclude their testing programmes. Day 5 With the 's completing their test programme the previous day, would be the pace setters on the final day of the test. Fernando Alonso set the quickest time in an interim Renault inwhich he focussed on tyre development for the team. Teammate Jarno Trulli was second fastest inwhich he focussed on suspension development. The cars were the next fastest with Marc Gené leading Juan Pablo Montoya. and finished at the bottom of the board, Antônio Pizzonia completing a second day with the Jaguar team whilst 's new test driver Takuma Sato had his first outing in a Formula One car since the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix, assisting in the development of the new 005 chassis throughout the day. Times Day 1, 13th January Day 2, 14th January Day 3, 15th January Day 4, 16th January Day 5, 17th January Category:Pre-season testing Category:2003 Formula One Season